The human voice forms a central aspect of our society. It is a critical tool for social interaction, learning and entertainment. Loss or impairment of one's ability to speak requires significant challenges and adaptations.
A voice is defined as sounds from a human being. Such sounds include talking, laughing, screaming, humming, singing, and the like. Voice generation is accomplished by expelling air from the lungs though the vocal cords of the larynx, also referred to as the voice box. The human voice emanates from the glottis. The glottis is defined as the vocal cords and the space between the associated folds. The glottis is comprised of several portions, including the larynx and the vocal cords. Maladies that affect one's ability to speak include glottis stenosis, various cancers, vocal cord nodes, laryngeal nodules, as well as an array of other possible disorders.
Voice-related problems may be followed by symptoms such as: dysphagia, or trouble swallowing; odynophagia, or pain in swallowing; lumps in one's neck; dyspnea, or difficulty in breathing; or otalgia or ear pain. In many instances, once these symptoms arise, a disease may have progressed to the point where treatment is ineffective, unavailable or incomplete. Early detection and diagnosis provides significant advantages in connection with treatment and recovery.
Some aspects of voice-related problems may be discernible by a doctor examining a patient's throat. However, since much of the voice generation mechanism, including the glottis is not visible with such an examination, the doctor may rely on procedures such as laryngoscopy. In this procedure, a laryngoscope is inserted through a patient's mouth to view areas such as the vocal cords. However, such a procedure is not part of a typical medical test such as one might encounter during a regular physical and are typically completed only once symptoms, such as those noted above, have been experienced. Thus, many disease may not be diagnosed until they have achieved an advanced stage.